TOP PHOTOS: Nov. 20, 2012

Here are the top pictures of the day from the Associated Press.

Smoke and flares of Israeli illumination rounds over the northern Gaza Strip as seen from the Israel Gaza Border in southern Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. A diplomatic push to end Israel's nearly weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip gained momentum Tuesday, with Egypt's president predicting that airstrikes would end within hours and Israel's prime minister saying his country would be a "willing partner" to a cease-fire with the Islamic militant group Hamas. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An elderly Palestinian walks next to a destroyed building after an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the worldís top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

A woman place coins in her purse as she walks in front of containers full of garbage after garbage collectors went on strike this week trying to avoid cuts on their job positions, in Madrid, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. One in four people in Spain are now unemployed as the economic crisis tightens its grip. The government is under pressure to seek aid to ease debts while the country sinks into its second recession in three years. Spain has raised nearly Ä5 billion ($6.4 billion) in a successful debt auction that saw strong demand as the country holds off on seeking international help to manage its finances. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Minnesota's Troy Stoudermire, bottom, and Mike Rallis (26) tackle Nebraska's Quincy Enunwa (18) in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012. At right is Minnesota's Aaron Hill. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

A 12-year-old boy lies in a bed at the Heal Africa hospital, after his arm was amputated following a shrapnel wound during heavy fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels in Goma, Goma, Congo, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. A rebel group created just seven months ago seized the strategic provincial capital of Goma, home to more than 1 million people in eastern Congo, and its international airport on Tuesday, officials and witnesses said, raising the specter of a regional war. (AP Photo/Melanie Gouby)

Manchester United's Alexander Buttner, right, gets a high foot on Galatasaray's Hamit Altintop as they fight for the ball during their Champions League group H soccer match at TT Arena Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. (AP Photo)

A Palestinian mourner cries during the funeral of Salem Paul Sweliem in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. According to the family, the 52 years old Greek Orthodox Christian carpenter was killed during an Israel Air Force strike on a high-rise building, in which Ramez Harb, a senior figure in Islamic Jihad's military wing, was killed. Sweliem was in car when the strike took place and he died on his way to the hospital from shrapnel wounds. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Palestinian police officers attend the funeral of Rushdi Tamimi who died of injuries sustained during clashes Saturday with Israeli security forces during a protest against Israel's operation in Gaza, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Nov 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world's top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Swans look out of boats as they are transported to the wintering grounds at the Alster river Hamburg, northern Germany, Tuesday Nov. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/dapd/ David Hecker)

An Egyptian protester carries a tattered national flag during clashes with security forces in the vicinity of the Interior Ministry in Cairo, Egypt, early Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Clashes between protesters and Egyptian security forces intensified after nightfall Monday, marking the anniversary of a bloody confrontation in Cairo, when 42 people were killed in a street battle months after the uprising that ousted the country's longtime president.(AP Photo/Mohammed Abu Zaid)

Palestinians carry a frame from the destroyed house of Islamic Jihad militant Hasam Al Kholy, hit overnight in an Israeli strike on Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world's top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire.(AP Photo/Adel Hana)

An Israeli soldier stands on top of a military vehicle as the sun rises in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Border, southern Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Israeli aircraft on Tuesday battered the headquarters of the bank Gazaís Hamas leaders set up to sidestep international sanctions on their rule, as fitful efforts to negotiate an end to a week-old convulsion of violence moved to the highest reaches of diplomacy. The strike on the Islamic National Bank was part of a widening Israeli assault against Gaza militants, meant to quell rocket fire that has abruptly struck deep into Israel's heartland. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will be in Egypt and Israel on Tuesday to try his hand at prodding the two sides to reach a deal. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A girl dressed in ceremonial Oxun clothing takes part in a washing ceremony using lavender water during an event celebrating National Black Consciousness Day in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. National Black Consciousness Day honors African people's contribution to the history of Brazil and Oxun is a divinity from the African-Brazilian religion of Candoble representing the queen of all rivers and waterfalls. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Palestinians children take cover in a U.N. operated school in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Some Palestinians have evacuated their homes seeking shelter from Israeli airstrikes. In some areas in Gaza city, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets asking them to evacuate their homes. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A view of the central Gaza Strip as seen from a hill at the Israeli town of Sderot, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would be a "willing partner" in a cease-fire with Gaza's ruling militant group Hamas. He made the pronouncement Tuesday at a meeting with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, who is in the region as part of an international diplomatic push to end nearly a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Workers burn tires to block a bridge that leads to the capital during a 24-hour general strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is facing a nationwide strike, led by union bosses who once were her most steadfast supporters. Many trains and bus lines are paralyzed; banks, courts and schools are closed; airlines have canceled flights and small groups of people have blocked highways in about a dozen places around the capital. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

A man enters to an empty subway station during a nationwide 24-hour general strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is facing a nationwide strike, led by union bosses who once were her most steadfast supporters. Many trains and bus lines are paralyzed; banks, courts and schools are closed; airlines have canceled flights and small groups of people have blocked highways in about a dozen places around the capital. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A Palestinian boy walks outside the National Islamic Bank, destroyed overnight in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, battering the headquarters of the bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group's rule. After Hamas violently overran Gaza in June 2007, foreign lenders stopped doing business with the militant-led Gaza government, afraid of running afoul of international terror financing laws. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 photo, Syrian rebel fighters prepare to fire a homemade rocket as they carry out a coordinated attack by hundreds of rebel fighters on a Syrian air force compound during heavy clashes on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. There is a struggle for power among rebel factions in Syria with Islamists rejecting the country's new Western-backed opposition coalition and unilaterally declaring an Islamic state in the key battleground of Aleppo though all of the groups are fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras)